Disney Double-Cross
by Spaceflight101
Summary: I didn't like how Turbo was killed off at the end, so here's my take on how it really went down. Promises made in the dark 'n'at!
1. Chapter 1

"Disney Double-Cross"

Chapter One

Litwak's Arcade wasn't always the family-friendly entertainment spot as shown in the movie "Wreck-It Ralph".

A little over 30 years ago, it was a "pinball alley", home to various pinball games. When video games began to become popular, the owner decided to retire and sought a buyer. As fate would have it, Litwak had just lost his job when the steel mill he'd worked in since returning home from Vietnam shut down. He knew the owner from when he played pinball there as a kid, and a deal was struck and Litwak became an arcade owner.

Little did he know that he'd bought into what would be the hottest trend of the decade...

He moved the pinball games into their own section instead of getting rid of them when video games came along. He had a vision, a vision of a family-friendly entertainment center where kids could play the latest video games while their parents (read "their fathers") could play the pinball games they grew up with instead of heading to the bar a few doors down. He would carry that theme forward to today, where kids could play games like "Sugar Rush", "Hero's Duty", and "NASCAR Arcade" while their parents played the classic games like "Fix-It Felix Jr.", "Turbo-Time", "Pac-Man", along with others from the era.

Of course, there was a little magic involved along with a little envy. Turbo loved spending his off-time in the NASCAR game, where he could rub shoulders with the Cup drivers of the era. Being a kart racer, he wasn't too comfortable at Talledega but could more than hold his own at the road course at Watkins Glen. "Stomp and steer, and never look behind you", he would say when asked for advice by the younger racers, many of whose avatars were only children who played "Turbo-Time" and perhaps were inspired by him. He could swap stories with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, and even race them.

The arcade games were, in effect, their own family, not as the movie depicted them.

One day, three strangers entered the arcade shortly after it opened. They introduced themselves to Mr. Litwak and he was taken aback when they said that they were from Disney and that they wanted to use his arcade and its games for a movie, but a movie unlike any other. First, they explained that they would need the arcade only after it had closed for the evening, It's common for movies to be filmed that way, they said, and Litwak didn't even have to be there. They would give him a big check, they would use the machines, and they'd even use him AND his name in a feature film!

How could he say no...especially when the contract stipulated that there were residuals as well?

Hands were shaken, the contract signed, and on a Sunday evening an unmarked semi full of equipment parked in front of the arcade.

(end of chapter)


	2. Chapter 2

"Disney Double-Cross"

Chapter Two

Mr. Litwak opened the door for the Disney technicians, and the boss asked "Is the arcade empty?" Litwak assured him that it was indeed, and the boss motioned for his technicians to begin moving equipment inside. "Do you need any help?" Litwak asked. The boss told him that they were with the "second unit" and asked if he'd read the script or seen any of the storyboards for the film. Litwak looked puzzled, as he had no idea as to how movies were actually filmed. The boss paged through his copy of the filming schedule, and then told Litwak that he would be needed for filming in a few days and that he'd be given plenty of consultation by the film's director as to what would be needed by way of arcade extras for his scenes. Litwak thanked him and went home for the night, handing the keys to the arcade to the Disney folks.

One of the Disney technicians found the main power source for the gaming consoles, smiled, and plugged a cord into it. The cord led to the trailer, where other technicians in virtual reality chambers prepared to test a theory. They all gave their monitors a thumbs-up, then found themselves traveling through a tunnel towards a light.

The surge protector stopped them, and asked them their names. When he didn't recognize their names, they told him that they were from Disney scouting locations for a movie. When one of them suggested that "Surge" could have a speaking part, he allowed them into Game Central Station.

Respectfully, they asked him where they were and where they could find certain characters. He pointed to Tapper's, explaining that many of the arcade's residents gathered there once the arcade closed. He also explained the concept and rules of Game Central Station to the visitors.

Turbo, Ted, and Teddy happened to be there that night, along with Ralph, Felix, Tamora, and Gene. They were planning the 30th anniversary celebration of "Fix-It Felix Jr." and caught the attention of the Disney avatars. "Mind if we join you?" they politely asked. Felix said "Sure,", then looking at them and not recognizing them asked "We didn't know that Mr. Litwak had plugged in a new game. What game are you all from?"

"We're not actually from a 'game', we're from the Walt Disney Company and we're here to film a feature movie."

Turbo's eyes lit up, and he asked "Disney? Like the 'Cars' Disney?"

"Yes, Turbo, but we're not from Pixar. Pixar did the 'Cars' movies." Turbo looked disappointed, and said "Shucks. I always wanted to meet Lightning McQueen...wait a minute...how do you know who I am?"

"We are from the human world. Your arcade was chosen because there are some games here that aren't around anymore. You, for instance, along with Felix, are the only operational consoles for your respective games that we've found in a cross-country search. You folks have been around for a very long time."

Ralph looked at Gene and said "See that? Maybe you ought to treat me better."

Gene smiled and replied "Ralphie, you big lug, you know we love you." Then he turned to Felix and asked if perhaps something couldn't be done to soften the mud puddle Ralph landed in.

Turbo looked puzzled and asked "How is it that humans can enter our world?"

"The digital world has come a long way in the past 30 years, Turbo. You should know that just by looking at Sgt. Calhoun here."

"Please, call me Tamora when we're out of my game. I only work there."

"Ok, Tamora. We have a van parked outside with equipment that allows us to be here."

Felix spoke next, asking what happens if they "die" while inside. "We return to the truck completely safe." was the answer.

Gene looked at Ralph, then turned to the Disney techs and asked them why they were there. "We want to film a movie and we'd like to feature as many of you as we can." One of the avatars was a screenwriter, and she smiled and said "I have a storyboard presentation for all of you." Tapper slid over and asked "Everyone?" "Yes, even you, Tapper." Can you ask everyone to sit over there and I'll begin my presentation?" Tapper turned towards the other patrons and the screen writer said "Set up the house, Tapper. It's on me." He grinned, and everyone got to their places and had root beer.

She said "My name is Dixie, and I'm a screenwriter for Disney Animation. You are about to become part of a history making experiment, that is if you agree to it. No one will be forced to do anything they don't feel comfortable with."

Dixie went on to explain the outline of the story...Ralph was left out of the 30th anniversary celebration of his game and after a spat with Gene set out to earn a medal. He would encounter a shell-shocked soldier from "Hero's Duty" in Tapper's and enter the game to collect the medal.

Tamora held up her hand and said "You do know how the game works, about the Cy-Bugs, right?" Dixie smiled and said "We will employ the code writers for your game, so that maximum safety can be followed. We don't want to lose any of you."

"It's only a movie."

She continued, building a backstory about Felix and Tamora and how they met and fell in love, building a backstory about Turbo that cast him as the movie's villain, a role he wasn't comfortable with. "In my game, I'm just a kart racer, trying to outrace my twin brothers here for the Cup. If I'm a bad guy, kids won't want to play us and we'll be unplugged."

Ralph said "You may find this hard to believe, Dixie, but here we all look out for one another."

She smiled at Ralph, and said "I understand, Ralph. That's why we're here. We don't want anyone to do anything they're not comfortable with."

Then she turned to Turbo, and said "If you're not happy, perhaps another arcade character might want to play the villain?"

Turbo looked at Ted and Teddy, and asked them if they were OK with him stepping into the "bad guy" role. They both nodded their agreement, and Turbo said "OK, I'm in."

She said "I'm sure that you have never seen how a movie is filmed. The main thing is that the scenes are not necessarily filmed in the sequence they'll be shown when the film is completed. We understand that none of you are 'actors', although in a sense you DO 'act' inside your game worlds. You'll be directed and coached, so there's nothing to worry about."

Gene said "Movie people usually are paid well." Looking around the room, he said "I think I speak for everyone here when I ask you what compensation we'll receive?"

Dixie said "Bitcoins. We'll pay you all with Bitcoins, and your pay will be based upon your role and total screen time. Sound fair, Gene?"

Gene felt a little sheepish as he looked around the bar to see everyone nodding in agreement. "I guess we have a deal then." he said, and everyone shook hands.

Dixie handed everyone their scripts along with a copy of the story outline and storyboards, and said "We're going to go home now, we'll be back after the arcade closes tonight and we'll go over any questions any of you might have."

They turned to leave, and Dixie smiled at Tapper and said "Thanks, Tapper. I loved playing you when I was little, never thought I'd ever meet you in person."

Tapper looked flustered, and he smiled and said "The pleasure is mine."

(end of chapter)


	3. Chapter 3

"Disney Double-Cross"

Chapter 3

After the arcade closed, everyone gathered in Tapper's again to discuss the scripts they'd been given. Everyone had questions that they needed answered. Turbo had taken a trip to Sugar Rush and brought Vanellope back with him. "Your game plays the largest part in the story and has the most potential to be irreversibly damaged", he said. She looked the script over and said "Glitch? What the heck is a 'glitch'? I hope that it's not a permanent thing."

Gene sought to reassure her..."The Disney folks make movies all of the time without problems. I trust them, but that's just me. Our game doesn't change much except at the end." He turned to Ralph and Felix and asked "Why didn't you two ever think about building a place for the homeless?" Ralph chuckled and said "My job is to wreck the building." Turning to Felix, he repeated Gene, saying "Yeah, Felix, why didn't you ever think about building a place for the homeless?" Felix looked at Tamora, then at the floor, and said "To tell you the truth, I never gave it much thought. Ralph, mind if I use some bricks from your pile?" "Help yourself", Ralph replied.

They turned as the avatars of the Disney agents entered Tapper's. Dixie said "Oh, good, you brought Princess Vanellope along. She wasn't here last night and I realized that we needed to talk with her. Good evening, Princess. Have you had a chance to review the script and storyboards yet?"

"Just call me Vanellope when we're away from my game...on second thought, just call me Vanellope there too."

"Ok, Vanellope. Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah. How are you going to prevent the Cy-Bugs from destroying my game and escaping into the arcade?"

Dixie looked at her two companions, then said "They, like all of you, are unique lines of computer code. In Tamora's game, they are attracted to a 'beacon' when the game ends and are 'destroyed'. The truth is that they are not 'destroyed', their code is simply returned into the game's memory and accessed when needed. My companions here are far more proficient at the complexities of computer codes than I, but they tell me that they can isolate the Cy-Bug's code and create a 'beacon' that will, in your game, destroy them without damage. Since their codes actually reside in 'Hero's Duty', they will regenerate there when needed but not in 'Sugar Rush'. The 'don't die outside of your game' rule will apply here.

Turbo was next..."I get the 'King Candy' part, but how are you going to merge me with a Cy-Bug?"

She held a small control that resembled a TV remote...back in the trailer technicians prepared a little bit of Disney magic for Turbo.

"When I press this button, you'll change into King Candy. It's merely a rewrite of your code that's easily reversible. You did read the scene completely, right? The Cy-Bug won't actually be there when you exit the tunnel behind Vanellope, but you'll need to look terrified when you exit the tunnel. Nothing is going to 'eat' anyone. She pressed the button, and Turbo transformed into King Candy. He looked at himself in the barroom mirror, and exclaimed "Wow! That was neat. Can you make me taller, too." Everyone laughed as Dixie pressed another button and Turbo returned to normal. "Awww!" he said dejectedly. "King for a minute."

As everyone marveled at the Disney magic, Dixie went on. "If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask them. If everyone is ready we'll begin filming tonight with the scenes here in Tapper's bar."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Tamora, can you ask one of your soldiers to come to Tapper's? Ralph, can you go with the sound techs to record your introduction?"

By the end of the night, several scenes were "in the can", and everyone's jitters had melted away.

(end of chapter)


	4. Chapter 4

"Disney Double-Cross"

Chapter 4

Two weeks later...

"There's a whole lot more to making a movie than they tell you", Ralph thought to himself. He'd just shot the scene where he breaks a jawbreaker in half for the third time and his hands were beginning to hurt. The second unit director saw this and said "Cut! I believe that we got it this time. Ralph, thanks for your patience." Ralph was this close to hauling off and wrecking the set, but those words made him smile and he headed to the snack table for some nice cool water.

There were the usual moviemaking glitches...Sgt. Calhoun had serious issues with the writers over some of her dialogue, especially when her cadre of soldiers were unable to prevent themselves from laughing, requiring several retakes of what should have been simple scenes. "Pee-pee in your big-boy slacks?! Kitten whispers and tickle fights?! Really? Guys, have ANY of you EVER heard me say things like that?" They looked at one another and just shook their heads. It wasn't all humorless, because the first time Ralph said "No cuts, no butts, no coconuts?" she couldn't keep a straight face and dissolved into laughter. That particular take took five times before she didn't laugh.

The highlight came when Turbo, as King Candy, was asked to tell Ralph why Vanellope couldn't be allowed to race. After the first two takes, the director told everyone to take five while he took Turbo aside and explained what he needed him to do. "Think of Vanellope as your child, your daughter", he said. "This is the pivotal scene in the story, and unless you're able to get Ralph to completely buy into your tale the viewers won't buy into it either, and everything that happens from this point on won't be believable. You and Ralph did a great job inprovising the 'hit a guy with glasses' scene, do you think you can carry the mail in this scene?"

When Turbo read the "hit a guy with glasses" scene, the scene called for Ralph to actually punch Turbo. Turbo had been photobombing others' scenes, showing up out of nowhere and injecting "Turbo-Tastic" into them, with humorous results. Ralph was equally uncomfortable, because if he punched Turbo too hard he would hurt him and he really didn't want to hurt his old friend. Turbo had played with the scene, and had come up with the concept of Ralph taking the glasses off and hitting him with them. The were scheduled to shoot that scene tonight, and on the first take they sprung it. The set dissolved into laughter, and the director yelled "Cut!" He got up from his chair, told everyone to compose themselves, looked at Ralph and Turbo and said "That was a great idea. Ready to do it again?" Turbo looked at Ralph and said "Do you have another pair of glasses?" Someone from Props handed him new glasses, and they reshot the scene.

Turbo nodded his head, and he and Ralph took their places for the scene. When they finished and the director said "Cut!", everyone in the room knew that Turbo had nailed it. Viewers would believe that King Candy was only looking out for Vanellope's best interest.

Most of the scenes with the Cy-Bugs that were filmed in Sugar Rush were done by the second unit with the help of digital "wranglers". Their job was to control the Cy-Bugs and prevent them from destroying the game and escaping into the arcade. Finally, there was only one scene remaining to be shot: the scene where King Candy, digitally merged with the Cy-Bug that "ate" him as he exited the tunnel, would appear to be drawn into the Diet Cola/Mentos "beacon" and be destroyed. Everyone watched as the Disney wizards merged Turbo/King Candy's code with the Cy-Bug as they'd done a few nights before to film the scenes where he and Ralph fought one another. The beacon was activated, the wranglers released their Cy-Bugs, and "Action" was shouted...

Turbo flew up and faced away from the light, just as the director had instructed him to do. But when the beacon's light reflected off the eyes of an oncoming Cy-Bug, something happened. King Candy's eyes began to glitch as the Cy-Bug's programming began to override both Turbo and the wrangler's influence.

"Hey, where're you going? Oh no! No!"

Turbo was in terror now, unable to stop the bug and unable to separate his code from the bug's code. The Disney wranglers were in panic too, shouting "Get him out of there!" and "I'm trying but nothing's happening!" The director was powerless to do anything but watch, thinking of the tragic accident that took the life of Vic Morrow and two child actors during the filming of "The Twilight Zone" and thought "Oh no, we're going to lose Turbo and there's nothing I can do about it!"

"Gotta get away from the...oooh, pretty light."

Turbo began to glitch himself as he again desperately tried to free himself to no avail. He could feel the heat from the beacon, as hot as molten steel, getting hotter and hotter to the point of unbearability. "How could they do this to me?" he thought. It's amazing how many things flash through your mind before death, it's said.

"No no no! Don't go...don't...go towards the light.."

The last shot the camera got of Turbo was the sheer horror on his face as he, along with the Cy-Bug, were swept into the beacon and destroyed.

Tamora clung to Felix, Vanellope clung to Ralph, and Mary clung to Gene in horror...Turbo was gone. This wasn't supposed to happen like this! Everyone sat or stood in mute horror, unable to comprehend the loss of their long-time friend, especially after all of the reassurances they'd been given.

"Movies suck", Ralph thought to himself.

They had all planned to go to Tapper's for the "wrap party"; now they would be going to mourn their friend Turbo.

(end of chapter)


	5. Chapter 5

"Disney-Double-Cross"

Chapter 5

Turbo had felt a strange tingling a fraction of a second before he and the Cy-Bug contacted the molten cola stream. "They lied to me", he thought, before his vision of the world dissolved into a blinding white...then, he saw his world coalesce into a strange room, with a man with a mustache seated behind a desk who said, with a Scottish accent, "Captain Kirk, we got him!"

"Who the heck is 'Captain Kirk'", Turbo thought as he slumped to the deck.

Another man, holding some sort of device, ran to him and scanned him and after a few seconds said "His code is complete and undamaged. He'll be fine."

Turbo had too much to think about..."What game are these guys from? Are they from a game at all? Is there a digital afterlife?"

The two men, Scotty and Bones, helped Turbo to his feet as Captain Kirk entered the transporter room.

"Turbo, I'm Captain Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise. Welcome aboard."

The two shook hands as Turbo, completely bewildered, said "So...I'm not dead?"

"No. You're in our game, safe now."

"How...how did you guys do that? How did you save me?"

"Turbo, we've been here since 1983, but you've never visited us."

"I'm not an astronaut, I'm a kart racer. Don't you guys ever visit Tapper's? That's where everyone gathers at the end of the day."

Kirk looked at Bones and Scotty, and asked "Why didn't we ever take shore leave at Tapper's?"

The two men looked at each other and shrugged in unison. Part of the game has the ship stopping at Star Bases, so there was really no need to go outside of their game.

Turbo was more composed now, and asked "How did you know what was going on, how did you know I was in trouble, and how did you rescue me?"

"Everyone in the arcade knew about the movie being filmed, so we were able to watch the filming from the viewscreen on the bridge. Spock didn't like the idea of merging your code with the Cy-Bug's code so he made a copy of your code and saved it to the transporter file."

"Transporter file?"

Kirk realized that he'd gone way over Turbo's head, and smiled as he explained that in the arcade, the transporter had the ability to beam characters from one game to another without passing through Game Central Station. They'd been monitoring the filming and when things went awry, had a transporter lock on Turbo and beamed him safely away from certain death.

Game Central Station was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop, save for the protests of the Disney people's avatars as Ralph dragged them out of Sugar Rush with the help of Duncan and Wynnchel. "Surge, make sure that their plug doesn't get unplugged. We want answers and they're not leaving until we get them!" Tamora said "Maybe we ought to drop them off with the Cy-Bugs and let them die like Turbo!"

The mood was ugly as everyone gathered in front of Tapper's. Shouts of "They murdered Turbo!" spread through the angry crowd of digital characters. The wranglers showed the equipment they'd used to control Turbo's transformations to everyone and pleaded that they couldn't explain why it didn't work when it absolutely needed to. "Dead batteries", someone shouted. "This has no 'batteries', it's all controlled from the computers in the trailer in Litwak's parking lot."

"It should have worked..." was all they could say.

Ralph had heard enough..."OK, Tamora, I like your idea. Everyone in favor of feeding these lying cretins to the Cy-Bugs raise their hands!"

A deafening cheer went up, but the Disney people said nothing because they knew that there was no way that their bodies in the human world could be harmed, the filming was complete, and they would merely be disconnected once the Cy-Bugs consumed their avatars.

The angry crowd began to head towards the entrance to "Hero's Duty".

(end of chapter)


	6. Chapter 6

"Disney Double-Cross"

Chapter 6

Turbo asked Kirk if they could beam him to Game Central Station, and Scotty answered "yes" for him. Turbo thanked Kirk again, and after everyone shook hands Turbo stepped onto the transporter pad. "Energize" was the last thing he heard as his world dissolved again and his vision was now of the entrance to Game Central Station. Surge was there, watching the angry mob carrying the Disney characters approach the entrance to "Hero's Duty", at the far end of the outlet strip.

"Hey Surge,", he asked "Where is everyone going?"

"They're feeding the Disney people to the Cy-Bugs because they let you get killed in...OhMyGosh! Turbo! You're ALIVE!"

That last word got the attention of everyone, and heads swiveled to see Turbo, alive and well, being hugged by Surge!.

"Easy, Surge!", he wheezed out as a thundering herd of arcarde residents gathered around him. Ted and Teddy piled on him, as did Tamora and Vanellope.

"Easy...ooofff...you're really killing me!" he said .

They got off him and helped him to his feet as Ralph asked "How could you be alive? We saw you fly into the cola beacon and die?"

"You can thank the guys from 'Star Trek" for saving my life", he said.

Ralph looked at the game's entrance, then looked around the room. "They've been here as long as we have but no one's ever gone in there and no one's ever seen anyone from that game." He looked at Felix and Gene, and said "We're going to have to go there and give them a belated 'welcome' to the arcade."

Felix looked at Gene and said "Why can't we invite them to our 30th anniversary party?" Gene shrugged his shoulders and said "I can't think of why not."

While all of this was going on, the Disney people took advantage of the confusion to quietly slip out of the arcade. When their plug was pulled, someone yelled "Hey, they're getting away!", but Turbo said "Heck with them, let 'em go. They won't be back."

"Everyone into Tapper's, drinks are on me! It's time to celebrate!"

A cheer resounded through Game Central Station as the happy throng filtered into Tapper's. Happy to sad, back to happy again all in the space of a few minutes. Typical Disney ending.

When the film came out, Litwak held a screening in the arcade. Everyone gathered on the roof of the Nicelander's building except Ralph, Felix, Turbo, Ted, and Teddy. They were at Star Base 123 along with Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty.

Turbo cringed at his final scene, and sighed. "Nobody's ever going to want to play us again and we'll get unplugged." Turning to Ted and Teddy, he said "I'm sorry if I get us unplugged."

(breaking the fourth wall)

But you know, there are a lot of people out there, myself included, who didn't think Turbo was truly evil at heart and didn't like how the Disney folks treated him.

You see, Ralph was a 'bad guy', but he wasn't a 'bad' guy. Gene was never the jagoff he was in the movie. Turbo was never the jealous game-wrecker as he was depicted in the film.

So where exactly WAS this "Disney Double-Cross"? It's common in filmmaking to film several versions of one scene, either for ratings or dramatic effect. The scenes where Ralph and King Turbug fought were a good example. You see, one version borrowed from "Spider-Man 2", specifically the scene where Doc Ock had a moment of clarity and said "I will not die a monster!" to Peter Parker. In that version, Turbo released Ralph (ever wonder why he didn't fly down after Ralph broke free and attempt to prevent him from crashing into the Mentos?) after apologizing to Ralph for all the harm he'd done and telling him that he'd lead the Cy-Bugs into the beacon. In that version, the Disney techs were able to separate him from the Cy-Bug before they flew into the Mento stream, just as they'd done before.

But, they either didn't hear or chose to ignore a warning from Tamora. "Cy-Bugs are adaptive, and if you don't kill them outright you can't use the same method to kill them again." The Disney folks used the same Cy-Bug for all of the King Turbug scenes, and by the time of the final scene filming it had adapted to the point where it would take control of Turbo.

Back in the cutting room, the producers decided that if they used the "Doc Ock" scene it would make Turbo look like the hero when they wanted Ralph to be the hero.

In a letter they sent along with the Bitcoin payment, the director apologized and said that the movie wouldn't use the scene where Turbo almost died. The producers, on the other hand, had other ideas as outlined above. The "Doc Ock" scene is available in the "Deleted Scenes" section and will be restored in the "Director's Cut" DVD.

Contrary to Turbo's fears, Turbo-Time is more popular than ever, and once people found out that Litwak's Arcade was indeed a real place, travelled from all over the world to play the only remaining original Turbo-Time game. "Turbo-Tastic" went viral and is a ringtone on many a fan's smartphone.

And, after playing "Ricky Bobby" with a stuffed cougar in the back seat of his NASCAR racer and displaying "I want to go fast!" a few years prior, Kurt Busch dressed up as Turbo, put "Turbo-Time" on his car, and raced in the Daytona 500, finishing first.

What do you think his answer was when they asked him how he felt...?

The End.

Ride on, Turbo! I'll race you and Dale someday when it's my turn to cross over. Get used to looking at my back...

Thanks to Dixie Darlin for the inspiration from the many stories she's written.

Thanks to megabyte for the inspiration for the blooper reel.

I hope you all enjoyed the story.


End file.
